Weekly Wrestling Report

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The Week in Wrestling, Summerslam, and Hardcore¿s end inside!

By IGN Staff

As predicted, Summerslam turned out to be the best Pay Per View put on all year by WWE, and definitely worth the $34.95 they charged for it. The company executed well in almost every aspect of the entire show and none of the matches were unwatchable. Both main events were incredible and Shawn Michaels in particular surprised critics with his performance.What impressed me was that WWE got the little details right. They finally allowed the announcers from Raw and Smackdown to call their respective matches, although they still leaned towards King and JR for the Intercontinental Title match. During that match thought, Howard Finkle announced RVD during his intro, and Tony Chimel introduced Chris Benoit. A small element of the overall show, but it at least tells us that the company is paying attention. I really enjoyed the Angle/Mysterio match. I questioned its position as the curtain-jerker of the card, because the crowd was a bit dead for the matches that followed. But it got the crowd hot for the start and after all, it was a really good match between two guys who were completely mismatched in size and style. I didn¿t like any part of the Flair vs. Jericho match. Flair shouldn¿t be the guy going over his opponent, who just happens to be around 20 years his junior. The false finish, with Flair simultaneously reaching the ropes and tapping out, was never followed upon, so what was the point? Crowd was also dead for this, as neither guy has any heat on him whatsoever. It's really sad to see Flair still trying to be the man, when he is well past his prime and is just a shell of his former self.Guerrero vs. Edge was decent, but it didn¿t leave an impression in peoples¿ minds, which isn¿t good for either one of these guys if they are supposed to be getting main event pushes in the coming months. Their work was technically sound, but on a card like this they should have stood out more.Tag Title Match wasn¿t anything special. The crowd did get into it, but the match itself didn¿t do anything for me. I didn¿t like the finish of Test interfering, as it doesn't do anything for the Unamericans, and only serves to keep Booker T lower on the card. The titles didn¿t change hands, which was the right thing to do, but the finish should have been clean.As mentioned before, the Intercontinental title match was great, but it wasn¿t the potential four-star match that these two can have. A the time, I didn¿t like the fact that the title switched hands, but if, according to what transpired on Raw, the Undisputed title is headed primarily to Smackdown, it makes sense to keep the IC title on Raw (along with the Tag). It seems funny to me that now, the only title that transcends both shows is the Women¿s belt. Undertaker vs. Test was exactly what it should have been. Not that I liked it, but they have to build Undertaker up to be an unbeatable monster if they want to headline the next show with Lesnar vs. Taker. They did it at the expense of Test and the others in the group because their interference did nothing, but it really was the only way.Michaels vs. HHH was the show stealer. They almost went half an hour, and surprised everybody watching. As soon as Michaels kicked up he reignited the crowd and proved that he can still do it in the ring. The whole match can be divided by that moment, the first part being the psychological half in which we really believe that he¿s hurt, and the second being the shock at what he can still do. The table and ladder spots were great, and the finish was the best thing to do, despite the gimmicked sledgehammer. If it was HBK¿s last match, winning was a great way to go out.The part I liked most about Brock vs. Rock was the crowd reaction, reminiscent of Rock¿s match with Hogan at Wrestlemania. It looked like the fans picked up on Rock¿s leaving to make another movie, and have really taken to Brock as a character. Pushing Brock as a face would definitely be the way to go in a couple of months, as it¿s just so hard to hate a guy that keeps winning (just look at Triple H). Obviously, Rock losing the title was the best thing to do as he won't be around, and Brock is getting that monster push. Depending on what happens now, the match could be seen as Brock's real launch to the top, or the start of another flop for the WWE.What happens now though, is somewhat questionable. The Undertaker is the next challenger for Brock, and it¿ll probably be Triple H after that. It depends on what happens with the state of the Undisputed title, because if it stays on Smackdown, no Raw guy can challenge for it (remember that Triple H is always an exception to every rule ever). But it seems that they¿re trying to kill off Raw as a brand, and rumors have been swirling about Eric Bichoff taking the show and turning it into Nitro. Whether that¿ll happen or not is anyone¿s guess, but it¿s definitely an intriguing idea, and one that is very realistic. Look for more about this next week though, as it¿s an issue that should be looked at in more than just one paragraph.-- Dmitry Traytel